Last month, we asked readers to send us some of their favorite places to run on vacation, and we've included a few of those responses in this month's newsletter. Read on for some great vacation and race ideas.

October also marks for many the heart of fall running. It's a beautiful time to get out and see the fall colors, and one of my favorite ways to do that is by taking a trail run. Our area is full of great trail running places, and although some of the trails might be more rugged than others, once you come out at the end of that trail, you can truly see the greatness of the nature that surrounds us. So, I encourage you all to get out and enjoy the beauty of fall and our great trails sometime this month.

Happy running,

Paul Morrison.

Reminder: Fleet Feet's NEW Store Hours

Just a reminder that Fleet Feet Bonney Lake has new store hours. Our store will now be open during the following times:

Monday-Friday: 10 AM to 7 PMSaturday: 10 AM to 6 PMSunday: Closed

Of course, we can also be reached by calling 253.862.8890 or visit ourwebsite for more information on upcoming events and other Fleet Feet happenings.

Happy 6th Anniversary, Fleet Feet Bonney Lake!

October marks the 6th anniversary of Fleet Feet Bonney Lake, and we're celebrating the momentous occasion with a month-long sock sale.

During the month of October, we will feature a Buy 3, Get 1 Free sock sale on all brands of socks. Whether your favorite running socks are Balega, DryMax, or Feetures, all brands are included in the anniversary sale AND you can even mix and match the brands.

Stop into Fleet Feet Bonney Lake today and help us celebrate six years of serving the South Sound running and walking community.

Mizuno Truck Coming to Fleet Feet

On Saturday, October 2, the Mizuno "Run With Us" truck will be stopping at Fleet Feet Bonney Lake, and everyone is invited to stop by to check it out between 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

As described by Mizuno, the "Run With Us" campaign is "mobile running tech lab designed to provide expert analysis and recommendation for runners of all skill levels. It features a grand scale technical van which will house two of Mizuno's state-of-the-art 'Precision Fit' terminals. There, consumers are provided with an innovative and thorough biomechanical analysis of thei rfoot type and running needs.

The 'Precision Fit' procedure determines which type of running shoe best suits the runner's foot type, running style, and running goals. Runners are also given a chance to 'test ride' footwear that have been suggested for their biomechanics. All participants in the 'Run With Us' program will receive a free Mizuno Dryscience T-Shirt."

Mark your calendars and stop by for this special event!

Tips from the TriGuy: Desire

This month is a continuation from last month's topic on how to go fast. Last month we tweaked a couple of physical elements to enhance our performance by staying fueled and hydrated. This month, I want to touch on the mental aspect of racing. This comes down to your desire to do well.

Let's face it, you can never replenish all that fuel and water expended out on the race course. It's a losing battle so we need to bring another player to the race. This is the mental side of the race and is responsible for helping us keep pushing even after the 1200 lb gorilla jumps on our backs. This desire is what propels us on race day to do what it takes to get to the finish.

But how do you prepare and cultivate that desire? During the week preceding your next major race, think about the pain of the last few miles and imagine how you are going to push through it by relying on your desire to finish well. For me, especially on longer courses, if I don't mentally prepare I will simply be going through the motions during the later portions of the race just trying to get it over with. So on race day, live in the moment, concentrate on technique and rely on your desire to get you there.

Well, this about finishes up another season, and with that I will be taking a couple months off from this column. If you have any comments or topics you would like covered next time please email them. Until January, keep fit by being active in things that you love doing (other than triathlon) so you give the dedicated swim, bike, and run training a break.

See you out there!Triguy

Nutrition Notes: Chili Peppers - Not All are Red Hot

Chili Peppers have a reputation for "kicking things up a notch," but not all of them are mouth burners. And Chili Peppers have some meaningful health benefits. In particular, they are an excellent source of vitamin C, provitamin A and vitamin B6, so it might be time to give them another look as a way so spice up your cooking.

The key to using chilies is to know that the heat is not derived from the flesh or seeds, but from the white, pithy membranes to which the seeds attach inside the peppers.Any part of the chili in proximity to these white membranes has the potential to pack a wallop, depending on the type of chili.However, if you cut away the membranes and discard the seeds, most chilies - even the five-alarm habanero - are edible and can transform the flavor profiles in your everyday recipes.

Why is the pith so hot?It contains the highest concentration of capsaicinoids.Capsaicinoids are flavorless, odorless substances that act on pain receptors in the mouth and throat, or on the skin. (For that reason, you should always wear tight rubber gloves when working with chilies and wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling).Capsaicin is the primary capsaicinoid.While the pith is the hottest part of the vegetables, capsaicinoids do occur unevenly throughout the flesh of chili peppers, so one part of a pepper may be hot while another part of the same pepper may be quite mild.

There are several varieties of chili peppers, and each differs in flavor and heat intensity.Typically, larger chilies are milder because they contain fewer seeds and white membranes in proportion to their size.Most varieties can be found dried, canned or fresh.Here are seven commonly used varieties:

Anaheim (California Green Chili or Long Green Chili) - Among the most commonly used, especially for stuffed chili dishes, Anaheim peppers are long, slender and lobed, green or red in color and mildly hot.They can be eaten when green or when red, which signifies maturity.

Ancho - Ancho are dried or fresh pablano peppers.Dried anchos are flat wrinkled and heart shaped.They range in color from very dark red to almost black.Anchos are mild to moderately hot and often soaked and ground for use in sauces.

Cayenne - Red when fully mature, long (6-10 inches), thin and either straight or curled at the tips, cayenne peppers are very hot.They can be found dried and ground into a powder that is sold as generic "red pepper" in the spice aisle.

Habanero - Typically yellow-orange but sometimes green, red or orange, these peppers are lantern shaped and usually about 2 inches long.The hottest peppers grown commercially, they have a unique floral flavor and an intense, fiery heat that affects the nasal passages.

Jalapeno - Most often green when mature but sometimes red, these peppers are about 2 inches long with cracks around their stems.They are hot, with an immediate bite.Jalapenos are sold canned and sliced and added to many products - including salsa, sausages, cheese and jelly - during processing.

Poblano - Poblano peppers are green ancho peppers.They look like small bell peppers and are mild to hot in taste.They are often roasted and peeled prior to being used in soups, sauces and casseroles or even stuffed with meat and cheese for a dish called chilies rellenos.

Serrano - Sold red or mature green, Serrano chilies are about 1-4 inches in length.Moderate to very hot with an intense bite, they are often used in Thai cooking and are also quite popular in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Featured Recipe: Chicken Tamale Casserole

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided

1/3 cup fat-free milk

1/4 cup egg substitute

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)

1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained

Cooking spray

1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 354 (36% from fat)

Fat: 14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)

Protein: 18.9g

Carbohydrate: 36.3g

Fiber: 2.5g

Cholesterol: 58mg

Iron: 1.7mg

Sodium: 620mg

Calcium: 179mg

Source: Risë Minton, Smyrna, GA, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2008

* Columnist Leslie Funkhouser is a local runner, yoga instructor, and nutritionist who owns and operates Wellness Concepts.

A recent study was completed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Heiderscheit, et al. 2010) in which they looked at what impact increasing the step rate (number of times each foot hits the ground in a minute) has on the forces on the leg during running. Researchers looked at 45 healthy runners (although I have no idea where they found these people, as 50% of runners are injured and up to 90% of marathoners are injured!). The runners averaged about 15-20 miles per week, had been running for longer than 3 months, and did not have any recent injuries. The researchers had them run at a self-determined pace on a treadmill to calculate a preferred pace. They then had the runners increase their stride rate by quickening the number of times they took a step but at the same pace/speed. This commensurately shortened the stride length (distance) between foot strikes. The study was done on a treadmill that was equipped with a force platform and a way to look digitally at ankle, knee and hip mechanics. The study found that a 10% increase in step rate showed a significant reduction in the load or forces at both the hip and the knee. Interestingly, the study found that participants felt like they were working harder (RPE - Rating of perceived exertion) even though their heart rate and oxygen consumption were not altered at differing stride rates.

"So what?" you might be asking yourself. What do these findings mean to the average runner? Can they help us in some way? It seems reasonable to assume that if we can lessen the forces imparted to our joints, there would be less of a chance of developing joint and soft tissue injuries (arthritis, tendonitis, stress fractures, etc). Better yet, if we are dealing with a running-related injury already, changing our stride rate might allow us to resume or continue running, albeit at an overall lessened intensity, sooner than if we were to run at our normal stride rate. Indeed, over-striding - or taking a longer stride length - creates a braking impulse which consequently puts greater force onto the leg and should be avoided.

If you're recovering from a running-related injury, this study's findings might be quite useful. I would suggest that if you are able to comfortably increase your stride rate by about 10%, you may be able to return to normal volume and intensity more safely than if you attempt to recover using your normal stride rate. Using a treadmill offers the easiest way to do this. Have someone watch you run at your comfortable pace and count your right foot strikes for 30 seconds. Multiply that number by four, then multiply by .10. Add that number to the initial number of total foot strikes per minute. That final number is the total number of foot strikes you want to aim for per minute (and that includes every foot strike, right and left). Using a metronome could make that even easier and some running watches have a built in signal that can be adjusted for foot strike rate.

SPECIAL NOTE: Do you have a particular that you would like to see covered in a future Physical Therapy Points to Ponder article? If so, please email the topic suggestion to physical therapist and guest writer Dennis Eldridge: deldridge@psspt.com.

* Guest writer Dennis Eldridge is a local runner and physical therapist, who works for Performance Physical Therapy in Enumclaw and Bonney Lake. Dennis also does monthly Medical Q & A nights at Fleet Feet. *

From Our Readers: Vacation Running Stories

"We recently went on an overnight camping trip up to Lake Kachess, WA just up on Snoqualmie Pass. Then scenery was beautiful and the road was open. It was a little warm, but I waited to late evening so it wasn't too bad. I set out to do a six miler. I put the ear phones in, pumped up the ipod and was off. First couple miles were fine. I had a rolling terrain going. I could sort of tell we were higher in elevation but luckily it didn't effect me too much. I did feel a little creepy running past the "forest." It's dark in there, so it did cross my mind I may have an wild life audience. Even if I did, I did not want to know; just turn the volume up and go. After mile three I was warm and sweating, and I began picking up unwelcomed visitors: horse flies. Mean ones. They would circle and circle and circle. With each pass of my head, they would go in for a dive and bounce off my forehead. I was becoming infuriated. I tried "out running" them. Sprinting. No luck. I tried slowing down. That made it worse. If I happen to lose one, I would pick up another. By mile four I had reached "Runner's Rage." I would have paid to have myself unknowingly video taped. These flys were amazingly aggressive. I stopped dead run. I put my fists up and began circling around because I was so mad. I was slapping and punching the air. Then I thought, I bet I have an audience. Couple deer, few bears, and an owl are probably up there sitting on a log making bets if I was going to get stung or fall off the cliff into the lake. The worst part, I even used profanity while punching the air. I was really surprised how a fly can steal your pace. A little fly. Not sure if you will catch me running with the flies again anytime soon."

Erika Bradford

Black Diamond, WA

"I didn't get away on vacation this year, but I ran the Over the Narrows 10 miler on Sept 4 and the beautiful course felt like I was on vacation. Started at Uptown Gig Harbor and proceded down a road lined with trees on both sides to give the feeling that one was way out in the country. It finally came out so we could cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and turnaround at a beautiful little park and back across the bridge again to the country type road. A well put on run for a first annual event. A band playing music and friendly, cheering volunteers at the finish line. Nice post race party afterwards. A really nice experience."